Earhart completes round-the-world flight with help of GA industry

July 31, 2014

ByAlyssa J. Miller

Fresh off her around-the-world flight in a Pilatus, Amelia Rose Earhart spoke about her adventure at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 28, and credited the trip’s success with the support she received from the general aviation industry.

Earhart, an instrument-rated private pilot, flew a Pilatus PC-12 NG around the world, retracing the path her namesake, Amelia Mary Earhart, flew in 1937. Earhart has remained a legend and a mystery for more than seven decades since her aircraft disappeared over the South Pacific. Numerous expeditions have launched to try to find her aircraft.

“It is this legacy that inspires Amelia Rose each day to chase her own adventures and encourage others to do the same,” Earhart’s website says. Earhart flew with co-pilot and flight instructor Shane Jordan, who has more than 4,500 hours in Pilatus PC-12s.

Earhart and Jordan departed Oakland, California, on June 26 and landed there July 11 after flying more than 24,000 miles in 108 hours of flight time. Earhart claims she has set the record for the youngest woman, 31, to circumnavigate the world in a single-engine aircraft.

“I’m overwhelmed by the amount of support my partners provided leading up to and during this flight,” Earhart said in a press release. “I dreamed about this adventure for a long time, and to know that this many incredible companies and individuals shared my vision is truly humbling. There is no way I could have completed the journey without them.”

Pilatus Aircraft provided the Pilatus PC-12 NG and Pratt & Whitney Canada stepped up with engine support of its PT6 engine. The Pilatus was fitted with avionics from Honeywell Aerospace, Bendix/King, Satcom1, and Inmarsat. Jeppesen provided navigational information as well as flight and international trip planning services to Earhart, while Signature Flight Support and Dallas Airmotive covered fuel costs at each fuel stop along the route. Earhart said she also received support from 1st Source Bank, Bose, Canada Goose, Global Aerospace Inc., GoPro, Life Support International, Lockton, Rimowa, Survival Systems USA, Urgent RX, and Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum.

In addition to drawing attention to her namesake’s efforts to circumnavigate the world, Earhart also works to inspire young women to enter aviation. Earhart’s foundation, Fly With Amelia Foundation, provides flight training scholarship to women ages 16 to 18.